Opinion: How Venom Can Make or Break Sony’s Spider-Verse

Venom will hit theaters this October and kick-start Sony’s Spider-Verse (without Spider-Man for some reason). After that, the studio plans to develop standalone films for villains Morbius the Living Vampire and Kraven the Hunter.

If you were following Marc Webb’s The Amazing Spider-Man movies a few years ago, this should all sound very familiar. Sony attempted to create a Spider-Verse with a Sinister Six film, along with other standalone villain titles.

Things didn’t work out for Webb as The Amazing Spider-Man universe was ultimately shut down before it could ever expand. Whether or not this was for the best is entirely up to you. Personally, I wasn’t a huge fan of this franchise and didn’t enjoy Webb’s take on many of Spider-Man’s rogues.

Getting back to Venom.

Yes, the same Venom that gave us brilliant lines such as:

“You will be this armless, legless, faceless little thing, won’t you? Rolling down the street like a turd in the wind.”

All jokes aside, this movie is crucially important to Sony’s new Spider-Verse.

How critics, fans, and the higher-ups of the MCU receive this movie could either skyrocket Sony to new heights or sink the studio once again. It could also directly impact the development of the Kraven and Morbius solo films.

If all goes well, we could potentially see more of Sony’s Spider-Verse pop up in the MCU. If it flops, we’ll probably look back at this much like The Amazing Spider-Man universe.

How Venom Can Succeed

Show us Venom. It may be as simple as that. Take another glance at that awesome suit. This is about as close as you can get to a perfect live-action Venom.

I can’t speak for everyone but in my case, I just want to see the symbiotes (not sym-by-oats) fight. I don’t need to see Carnage appear in a forced cameo. Riot and the rest of his symbiote squad is well more than enough for me.

Next, use your R-rating wisely. Let Venom be the monster he’s known for that eats people. Like the trailer says “The World Has Enough Superheroes”. Sony has to take that tagline to heart with this movie. Venom and Eddie Brock for that manner aren’t traditional heroes.

Finally, I know that Tom Hardy is an amazing actor and it is a steal for Sony to have him as Eddie Brock but don’t make this “Tom Hardy as Eddie Brock: The Movie”. Actually, this leads me to how this all can go horribly wrong.

How Venom Can Fail

There’s something I particularly enjoy when watching superhero movies like Deadpool and even Spider-Man: Homecoming. The heroes don’t take their mask off every five minutes. Let’s look at Will Smith in Suicide Squad as an example (I know, using the DCEU as a punching bag. That’s so original).

I’m a huge fan of Smith but he was not the best choice for Deadshot. Many times throughout the film, it felt like Smith was just playing himself but in a superhero movie. Or supervillain movie? God, Suicide Squad had a lot of problems.

I think I’m getting off track here a bit.

It boils down to this. Don’t give us a nearly two-hour long Venom movie with only 20 minutes of Venom.

The other way this could totally fall off the rails is with bad dialogue. Again, I have to bring up the line “like a turd in the wind.”.

I know what you’re thinking. There are many instances where trailers (intentionally and unintentionally) put in footage that won’t be used in the final product but this can’t be a giant cheese-fest of lame one-liners. Do you want your movie to be put in the same category as Batman & Robin? The answer is no by the way. No one should ever say yes to that question.

All of the trailers so far for Venom have left me with an unsure feeling. I want to love this movie. Tom Hardy as Eddie Brock, the suit, Riz Ahmed as Riot, and the R-rating are all ingredients on how to make this work. However, a lack of the symbiote anti-hero for most of the run-time and cheesy dialogue can make Venom a movie that we would all want to forget a few months from now.

What are your thoughts on Venom? Are you looking forward to seeing it? Let us know in the comments and be sure to follow us here at The Nerd Stash for all of your nerdy news and needs!